In comments
made in November but only published on Friday, Francis also said priests should
leave their comfort zone and get out among people on the margins of society,
otherwise they may turn into "abstract ideologists".
The Italian
Jesuit journal Civilta Cattolica published an exclusive text of the comments,
made in a three-hour, closed-door meeting the Argentinian-born pontiff had in
late November with heads of orders of priests from around the world.
"Formation
(of future priests) is a work of art, not a police action. We must form their
hearts. Otherwise we are creating little monsters. And then these little
monsters mold the people of God. This really gives me goose bumps," he
said.
Since his
election in 2013 as the first non-European pope in 1,300 years, Francis has
been prodding priests, nuns and bishops to think less about their careers in
the Church and to listen more to the needs of ordinary Catholics, especially
the poor.
Taking over
an institution reeling from child sex abuse, financial and other scandals and
losing members to other religions, Francis has tried to refocus on the basic
Christian teachings of compassion, simplicity and humility.
His
conversation with the members of the Union of Superiors General is important
because they will transmit his wishes directly to priests in their religious
orders around the world.
Francis said
priests had to have "real contact with the poor" and other
marginalized members of society.
"This is
really very important to me: the need to become acquainted with reality by
experience, to spend time walking on the periphery in order really to become
acquainted with the reality and life-experiences of people," he told them. "If this does not happen we then run the
risk of being abstract ideologists or fundamentalists, which is not
healthy."
The leader of
the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics has set a new tone in the Vatican,
rejecting the lush papal residence his predecessors used and opting for a small
suite in a Vatican guest house, where he eats in the common dining hall.
Civilta
Cattolica is the same periodical that ran a landmark interview with Francis in
September in which he said the Church must shake off an obsession with
teachings on abortion, contraception and homosexuality and become more
merciful.
Francis,
known as the "slum bishop" in Argentina because of his work among the
poor, said reaching out to marginalized people was "the most concrete way
of imitating Jesus".
Francis has
said several times since his election that he feels the Vatican is too
self-centered and needs to change.
A committee
of eight cardinals from around the world that he has appointed to advise him on
how to reform the central Vatican administration, known as the Curia, is due to
submit its recommendations in February.
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